FILE REOPENED
Deadly arrest under review
A day after the B.C. Prosecution Service declined to press charges against Vancouver police officers in the death of Myles Gray, B.C.'s Police Complaint Commissioner has reopened its disciplinary conduct investigation into the actions of the VPD officers.
During his Aug. 13, 2015 arrest, Gray, a 33-year-old floral wholesaler from Sechelt, suffered injuries including a broken eye socket, a possible partially dislocated jaw, a voice-box fracture, a minor brain bleed, rib fracture, and bilateral testicular hemorrhage.
He went into cardiac arrest while he was being restrained by seven Vancouver police officers and died in the backyard of a Burnaby home, where he was apprehended by police who were responding to reports of an “agitated and disturbed man” on the Vancouver-Burnaby border.
B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office, which investigates all police incidents resulting in serious injury or death, determined there were reasonable grounds to believe the officers involved may have committed offences, but the prosecution service concluded there was no reasonable prospect of conviction of any officer and did not approve charges.
Gray's mother, Margie Reed, said Thursday she hasn't been contacted by the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner and doubts the police watchdog's investigation will reveal any new details about her son's death.
“They (the officers) didn't co-operate with the (Independent In
vestigations Office), so I don't know why the OPPC will be able to get them to co-operate,” she said. “The IIO couldn't compel them to comply, so how can the OPPC compel them to comply?"
The OPPC, a civilian body that oversees police complaints and discipline, said it will now proceed with its investigation into the actions of the officers.
“Under the Police Act, officers may be compelled to provide statements, answer questions and otherwise account for their actions,” said a statement from the Office of the B.C. Police Complaint Commissioner.
A post-mortem revealed Gray's injuries were “likely suffered during his arrest,” but a cause of death couldn't be determined, according to a statement from the B.C. Prosecution Service. Medical experts could not exclude the possibility that his death was caused solely by factors unrelated to the use of force by police, specifically,
by the ingestion of mitragynine, also known as kratom, or by the condition known as “excited delirium.”
Reed said she is angry that the Crown prosecutor cleared the officers and that they continue to work for the VPD.
“That is the most atrocious thing,” she said. “They went to work yesterday, they went to bed, they slept and they got up to go to work again today. These officers are dangerous to be working with people every day. They should be dismissed."
The OPCC investigation will be carried out by a police department external to the VPD and any discipline, which can range from a reprimand to dismissal, will be imposed by a discipline authority made up of senior officers from outside the VPD.